The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, expressed hope on Monday 18 May at an event organised by the Friends Of Europe think tank that the future Pact on Asylum and Migration will be presented “in early summer”.
“We are working very hard, we are on track”, but with the health crisis, “the Commission is busy” with other issues, Johansson said. “I hope it can be presented in early summer”, she explained, just in time for the start of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Pact was originally scheduled to be presented in March, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be published in the wake of a series of other urgent issues, such as the European Recovery Plan.
However, the Commissioner was not very clear about its content. The Pact will have key points of focus, for example on legal labour migration and on a clear distinction between people arriving in the EU who are entitled to protection and those who will have to be sent back to their country of origin. All of the procedures on the processing of asylum applications and the return of migrants who are not eligible for international protection will have to be made more efficient and faster. It is not acceptable for people to wait several years for a response to their refugee claim, said the Commissioner.
It is also very clear that the EU will also have to be open to people who do not seek protection but want to come and work in the EU. That type of legal labour migration should therefore be given a prominent place in the Pact, said Mrs Johansson, who cited the example of Swedish doctors, some of whom come from non-Member States.
With this Pact, the commissioner wants above all to make European migration policy as “boring as other European policies”, she joked, wishing to put an end to years of “toxic” discussions linked to the unsuccessful proposals for reform of the 2016 asylum package.
The Commissioner did not say whether the Commission would present as part of the Pact a specific regulation for crisis situations such as Covid-19 (which made it more difficult for asylum authorities to investigate cases), a possibility raised by some sources. However, she confirmed that the health crisis will be taken into account in the Pact.
This specific regulation could thus concern non-standard situations and not only those related to migration, for example by offering more flexibility in the application of the rules.
In the meantime, sea rescue operations will be given a prominent place in the future Pact, with an emphasis on the relocation of those rescued to Member States. But the aim will of course be to ensure that no one “puts their life at risk” by boarding a boat to come to Europe, Johansson insisted.
In any case, she said she was optimistic about the chances that her Pact, even if it is not ideal for everyone, will be able to achieve a “compromise” between the EU27.
According to several sources, the Pact could be issued in two stages: first a communication, then the legislation. However, the Commission did not wish to confirm this division. Nor has it confirmed reports that the Pact contains a new proposal for a so-called ‘Dublin’ Regulation (the revised 2016 text would be abandoned) or on faster registration and identification of migrants arriving in the EU.
According to a draft circulated in February (see EUROPE 12485/6), the Commission was considering a regulation on migration management to replace the so-called 2016 ‘Dublin’ Regulation and an amendment to the Schengen Code in order to give Member States better tools to properly identify migrants at external borders (whether for asylum or return). It was also considering a revised proposal on asylum procedures to facilitate the use of accelerated border procedures. And it also proposed to revise the ‘Eurodac’ regulation. Finally, the European institution wanted to relaunch the revision of the ‘Blue Card’ Directive on legal migration. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)